Start your own party

Students and members of staff do not have to join the existing parties, of course. If you have a different view or a novel idea, then you might want to consider starting your own party. To do so, you will have to submit an application form to the Central Electoral Office.

Besides gathering support for your vision or idea among your fellow students or colleagues, there are a few formal steps you will need to complete.

List of candidates
A list of candidates for a party can comprise a maximum of thirty students or members of staff. At least one candidate must be willing to join the University Council for at least one term (which is one year for students, and two years for members of staff). For the staff party, the list of candidates is subdivided into four sections: humanities/social sciences; science/medical; support and administrative staff and UMCU staff. The application form must be submitted to the Central Electoral Office by 5 April 2018 at the latest.

Declaration of consent
Every candidate must sign a declaration of consent, which the Central Electoral Office will use to check whether the candidate is actually registered as a student or member of staff at Utrecht University. The declaration of consent must be submitted to the Central Electoral Office together with the application form.

List of supporting eligible voters
You will need at least one candidate in order to establish a new party, but you will also need thirty signatures showing the support of eligible voters. This applies to new student parties as well as new staff parties. The list of supporting eligible voters must be submitted to the Central Electoral Office together with the application form.

Publication of the candidate lists
The Central Electoral Office will publish the candidate lists on the intranet, the student portal and DUB on 16 April 2018.

Elections
Eligible members of staff and students may vote on the candidates for the participating parties from 14 to 16 May 2018, inclusive. They can do so via www.uu.nl/stem. Voters have to enter their Solis ID and password, after which they will get to see all the candidate lists. Each voter may vote for a single candidate once.

Electoral threshold
The University Council uses an electoral threshold. This year, that threshold has been lowered, making it easier to obtain a seat. In 2018, Utrecht University applies an electoral threshold of 2/3 of the electoral quotient.

Result
The Central Electoral Office will announce the election's result on 18 May 2018.